Substrate evaporation induced neck-shape evolution of a liquid/solid interface

The wetting behavior and interface interaction in the CaF₂/Me and NaCl/Me systems were studied using the sessile drop method. It was observed that liquid Bi, In, Sn and Ga do not wet the CaF₂ and NaCl substrates at 1000 K and liquid Cu does not wet the CaF₂ substrate in the 1423-1573 K temperature range. Nevertheless, different spreading behavior was observed during experiments. For the CaF₂/Me systems, at 1000 K, the contact angle remains constant with time, while for the NaCl/Me systems, a non-monotonic spreading behavior was detected. For these systems the contact angle increases initially and then rapidly decreases. For the CaF₂/Cu system at 1423 K the contact angle remains constant, while it increases with time at 1573 K. It was established that the wetting behavior is attributed to the evaporation of the solid substrate, which leads to the formation of a neck-shape interface. The experimental results were well accounted for by a model, which considered the geometrical characteristic of the metal/ceramic interface and thermo-physical properties of the metals and the substrates.